Cheese Giving You Nightmares? New Study Prompts PETA Remedy With ‘Rest Easy, Go Vegan’ Ads

For Immediate Release:
July 3, 2025

Contact:
Hannah Nelson 202-483-7382

Following a just-released study showing that dairy consumption can worsen sleep and trigger violent nightmares, PETA is set to deliver a wake-up call in San Jose, encouraging any bleary-eyed residents in the top dairy producing state to ditch cow’s milk and sleep like a baby—knowing that no baby cows were torn from their mothers for vegan milks and cheeses, such as those made from cashews, oats, almonds, soy, and coconuts. The Munch-inspired missive will be seen on billboards and bus shelters, only a stone’s throw away from dairy-serving eateries.

“Sweet dreams aren’t made of cheese, which is an actual nightmare for the humans who consume it, the cows forced to produce it, and the newborn calves who are torn away from their mothers,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is encouraging everyone to sleep well and with a good conscience by choosing vegan milks and cheeses.”  

Mother cows form instant bonds with their babies, but in the dairy industry, calves are taken away from their mothers within hours or days after birth. Cows are repeatedly forcibly inseminated (raped)—workers insert an arm into the cow’s rectum and a metal rod to deliver semen into her vagina. Newborn males are routinely slaughtered for veal, while female calves endure the same fate as their mothers until their bodies wear out and they’re sent to slaughter.

Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their food-related carbon footprint, and slashes their risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity. PETA’s free vegan starter kit is filled with tips to help anyone looking to make the switch.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kitsfor people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.